A Love Story for the Ages
by pleurocoelus
Summary: When the immortal Master of Death knows that his Beloved is near the end of her life, what does he do? Whatever it takes. - Immortal Harry, H/G


_**A/N:**_ _This story is based on the immortal, Master of Death, Harry trope. I can't remember if I've seen any Harry/Ginny stories in this trope, so here's one for your consideration._

 _Fate, Death, etc. are my original interpretations of these personified concepts. When I write, I often "cast" people as my OCs. Fate is played by Gina Torres (Firefly) and Death by Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote). They and their siblings will show up here and there in my other stories, particularly the Spacetime Sirius series._

 _Death and Fate's speech is a bit archaic on purpose._

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 **Since 1981, every couple of centuries, one of the girls born to the Weasley family is named Ginevra Molly Weasley. All of them have grown up to marry men named Harry Potter.**

 **This is not a coincidence.**

 **11 August, 1981**

Arthur and Molly Weasley looked at the new-born baby sleeping in Molly's arms, their daughter. Their daughter! The first daughter to be born to the Weasley family in generations.

Arthur bent down and kissed the brow of his little girl. Despite the fact that he had been father to six children before this little miracle, he had never become immune to the amazement at new life. Throughout each of Molly's pregnancies, Arthur had frequently kissed her gravid belly and talked to the little one (or ones, in the case of the twins) growing inside.

"A girl," he whispered reverently to his wife. "I never thought I'd see the day. It's been so long since there was one in the Weasley family."

Molly broke from her admiration of her new-born daughter to look at her husband, who planted a tender kiss on her lips.

"With six older brothers, she probably will be more interested in catching frogs and playing Quidditch than in lace and tea parties," Molly sighed.

"I see no reason why she can't do both," Arthur says with a smile. "Besides, you were quite the chaser for Gryffindor not so long ago."

Molly smiled. "I suppose I was, Arthur. After all, I did catch you. And you were a good chaser yourself, lest you forget."

As the couple was lost in reminiscences of the past and dreams of the future, on the other side of the room sat two Beings, invisible to the world. Though the two were far from human, they usually adopted that appearance, for reasons older than the foundation of the world.

"She is the one," the Being called Fate pronounced. "She is the one who will anchor his heart and allow him to complete his task without succumbing to the darkness."

The Being called Death looked from her companion to the mortal beings cradling their offspring.

"She must be strong, sister," Death pronounced, "if she must help the Champion in his appointed task."

"She will be," Fate said with a smile. "Then the one who sought to avoid your jurisdiction will go down to his damnation and she will help the Champion rise above the pain and loss. She will give him strength, even before he knows that he needs it."

"Why have you removed the Champion from my jurisdiction?" Death asked. "You have given him what the self-styled 'Dark Lord' has desired, yet not understood. This is not necessary for his victory over the dark one. In the other timelines, Harry Potter will age and die like any other mortal man, yet still defeat this Tom Riddle."

Fate laughed. "This is why it is I who govern fate and not you, sister. Though I know all the twists and turns of destiny, though I see the path of every life and every star, I know that our will must be subject to The One's. It is His decree for this timeline that the life of the mortal, Harry Potter, shall endure until the Time of the End. I know this and accept it."

"Until the Time of the End?" asked Death incredulously. "Surely he will go mad long before that time! That is one of many reasons why mortal man is destined to meet me. Their feeble bodies and minds cannot endure such lengths. How will the Champion endure without his Beloved? If he finds others, he will lose them as well. How can he bear such constant loss?"

Fate smiled wearily. "You will know when it is time for you to know. Though the mortals think us gods, we exist but to serve The One. You will know the part you must play for both the Champion and the Beloved."

With that, the two Beings left for other realms.

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 **2009**

Harry Potter walked in the door to cries of "Dad!" His two sons, James and Al, were carefully playing with their little sister, Lily. Harry walked over to where the three were playing and was covered with a flurry of hugs and kisses.

After disentangling himself from his three children, Harry made his way to the kitchen to find his wife busily preparing dinner.

"Smells great, Gin! Need any help?" he asked as he playfully kissed her.

"Need? No. Appreciate? Yes," she replied.

Harry washed his hands and began helping the preparations in whichever ways he could.

After a few minutes of playful banter, Ginny Potter finally had a chance to actually look into her husband's eyes. What she saw there made her freeze.

"Harry, what's wrong?" she asked, with growing concern as she sat down the plates she had been holding and moved over to him.

"I'm fine," he began.

"Stop that nonsense right now, Harry," she whispered in his ear.

"After the kids are in bed," he whispered back, "all right?"

Ginny kissed her husband on the cheek and nodded her assent.

After the lengthy ritual of getting three children in bed and their parents finally had some time to themselves, Harry locked their bedroom door and erected privacy spells.

"Now," Ginny said, "what's bothering you? I haven't seen a look like that on your face in ages."

"Something happened at work today."

"Is everyone all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he began. "It started as a pretty normal day. We finally got a lead on that case we've been working on. Of course, the suspect didn't want to come quietly.

"Gin, he hit me with a Killing Curse."

Ginny Potter gasped.

"I heard the incantation. I felt something hit me, but nothing happened. No one saw, but I know what happened."

Ginny took her husband's face in her hands, her eyes filled with fire.

"You know better than to joke about this, right?" she asked.

"I wouldn't," he whispered.

"I didn't think you would, but this..."

"Ginny, I haven't bruised in years, haven't even had a cut - not since the Battle."

"Please tell me you didn't try to curse yourself," she said.

"No, not that, but I did *try* to cut myself with my penknife."

"Nothing?" she asked.

"Nothing," he answered

Brown eyes looked into green. "Whatever this means, Harry, we'll face it together."

"I know. And don't worry, I'm not going to take any stupid risks. I don't know if this will last."

"At least no more stupid risks than usual, right?" she teased.

"I love you so much," was his only reply.

After removing the privacy charms, the Champion and the Beloved drifted into sleep in each other's arms.

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 **2083**

Harry Potter sat on the ground in the Forbidden Forest. To the unaware observer, he would appear to be still quite young. That observer would be wrong. Harry Potter had stopped aging the moment Lord Voldemort died, decades past.

Harry Potter was immortal. Unlike the Dark Lord he defeated, however, Harry Potter didn't want to live forever.

Harry looked at the three objects he held in his hands, the Deathly Hallows. Ginny was dying.

She wasn't ill. In fact, she was quite healthy for a witch of her age. Nevertheless, she was dying. She was dying and Harry wasn't. Even if Ginny had another couple of decades left, Harry knew that his loss was inevitable.

Could Harry learn do love again? Probably.

Did he want to learn to love someone else? No.

Harry had spent every free moment for the last decade or so searching the floor of the Forbidden Forest for the Resurrection Stone. At the time he dropped it, he thought it wise that the Stone be lost forever. Now he cursed his naivety.

Once he had found the Stone (which, of course, could not be Summoned), he retrieved the Invisibility Cloak from his great-grandson under the pretext of borrowing it "indefinitely." Harry had set the security on Albus Dumbledore's tomb himself during his days as the head of the Auror Office so breaking in to steal the Elder Wand was simplicity itself.

Now Harry sat on the forest floor, absent-mindedly staring at the objects in his hands. He turned the Resurrection Stone over three times.

"Legend says that my ancestor and his brothers met Death," he muttered.

"There is some truth to that legend," said a voice from behind him.

Harry quickly turned to see a woman sitting on the ground. Her clothes were unremarkable, save for being a Muggle style that had gone out of fashion when Harry was much younger. Her face wore the marks of later middle age, but there was something in her eyes, something eternal, ageless.

"Yes," she said, "I once met your ancestor Ignotus Peverell and his brothers. I gave them wonderful gifts which the older two misused, an error for which they paid the price."

She sighed.

"Does my appearance disturb you so, Harry? Perhaps you would rather perceive me as so many do, as a hooded skeleton? No, like your ancestor Ignotus Peverell, I am an old friend to you."

"Old friend," said Harry scornfully, "if I may be so bold, why do you take from me that which I love?"

"Harry," Death said with a shrug, "it was not I who made you what you are. Mortal man is destined to die, but you have been removed from my jurisdiction since long before you touched any of my Hallows. Only Tom Riddle could kill you and he is no longer in this world.

"Now, Harry, let us speak. You called me here. I have much work to do. Your kind are so fragile and so eager to end each other. You cannot use the Stone to preserve your Beloved Ginevra's life, nor should you use it to return her once she has passed. Cadmus Peverell learned the folly of that course of action."

"If you can't prevent her death, then at least allow mine!" Harry screamed. "Don't let me linger here alone. Even if I could find someone else eventually, she'd just die too. I can't bear that. Legend says that I am your Master. If that is so, then I *command* you to take me, Death! Don't let me be separated from my love forever. If I'm not your Master, then strike me down for my hubris in commanding you."

"As I have told you, Harry, you are not within my jurisdiction."

"Please," sobbed Harry, "please, I beg you. To live through the ages would be too much if it's without Ginny."

Harry looked at the Hallows in his hands. He held them up to Death.

"Take them," he said. "Take them in trade. I will freely return your Hallows to you if you grant my request."

Death sighed. "Harry, I cannot, but since you have offered to return to me what was once mine, I will tell you what I *am* able to do.

"As for you, you shall live agelessly until the stars burn no more and The One Who set them in their courses decrees the Time of the End. However, it is destined for mortal man to die and I cannot deprive Ginevra of her fate.

"Nevertheless, I shall provide what I may. When she has reached the end of her days, then she shall rest in death until she has spent the same length of days in death as she did in life. She shall be born once more, but you shall not find her until after she comes of age. When you find her, you must show her the truth. She will then remember. So will this continue until the Time of the End comes."

"How will I find her?" Harry whispered.

Death smiled compassionately. "You will find her, Harry, perhaps when you least expect it. This I promise."

Harry held out the Hallows to Death, who accepted them.

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 **2114**

Harry Potter sat by the bedside of his Beloved Ginny. Age had finally taken its toll on her mortal flesh and she didn't have long left. Their three children and assorted members of the Potter and Weasley families filled the room.

One by one, they passed by her bed, giving kisses and whispering their goodbyes. Soon, only James, Al, and Lily were left in the room with their parents.

After tearful hugs and kisses, Harry requested some time alone with his wife.

"Take off the glamours, Harry," Ginny requested.

With a sigh, Harry Potter waved his wand and the glamour charms vanished from him. Grey hair turned black, age spots and wrinkles vanished, and once again Harry appeared deceptively young.

"Now put them on me," she asked.

"Ginny," he replied, "I think you're beautiful just like you are."

"I know you do, Harry, and I love you for it, but I want you to see me as I was."

With another wave of his wand, Ginny Potter once again looked as she had looked decades earlier.

"Harry, promise me that you'll find someone."

"I won't need to," he whispered. "It won't be long until I see you again."

"Harry, I..."

Suddenly, her eyes were once again filled with the blazing look that had always captivated his heart.

"Harry Potter, what did you do?"

"I - I used the Hallows, Gin. I called Death and I made a bargain.

"Bargain?" Ginny said with an arched eyebrow.

"I meant to tell you, I tried to find a way, but I just couldn't. Death confirmed that I *am* immortal. In exchange for returning the Hallows to her, she told me that you would be reborn, but not until you had 'rested in death' for as long as you had been alive. So, you'll get to see everyone there. Then in a few decades, we'll be together again."

"Harry, I - I wish you'd told me sooner."

"I'm sorry, Gin, I just couldn't. I still wonder if that meeting was just a dream sometimes. I can't bear the thought of being without you forever."

"Harry, I forgive you," she said with a faint smile. "I'll be sure to say hello to everyone for you. I love you, Harry Potter."

"I love you, Ginny Potter," he replied.

Harry leaned over and hissed his wife tenderly. When he sat up again, he knew that she was gone.

"I'll see you again soon, Love," he said.

Harry reapplied his glamour charms with a practiced hand and left the room. In the hallway, Harry saw James with Annabelle, Al with Emmy, and Lily with Sam.

"Your mother has gone on," He told them.

James grimaced, Al nodded, and Sam wrapped his arms around Lily as she fought not to let the tears come.

"It's okay to cry, my little flower," Harry told his daughter. "You're so much like your mother, always trying to be strong for everyone else."

"What about you, Harry?" Emmy asked.

"Half of my heart just left this world," he replied, "but I know I'll see her again.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a nap."

Harry Potter walked down the hall to the room that had been their bedroom before Ginny's illness.

When Harry was out of earshot, Annabelle voiced her concern: "You don't think your dad is going to do something - rash - now, do you?"

They all turned to Al, who they agreed understood Harry best.

"No, he's not suicidal. He's going to miss Mum, but I think he'll be around for a while. He *is* hiding something, though, I'm sure of that."

The other five nodded their agreement to that statement, then stood in silence. Finally, by wordless agreement, they left to break the news to the rest of the family.

Back in the room they had vacated, Ginevra Potter woke, as if from a restful sleep. Sitting at the foot of her bed was a woman with a grandmotherly face and Muggle clothes that were very out of date.

"You're not quite what I expected," she said with a cheeky grin.

"I'm not really a woman any more than I am a hooded skeleton," Death said. "Harry's an old friend of mine and, by extension, so are you. Now, I believe I have some people who want to meet you."

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 **2116**

Harry Potter stood at the back of the crowd at his own funeral. He had thought about hanging around for another couple of years, but it was so hard seeing the house every day. Too many memories.

Now, a conjured body was being laid to rest next to Ginny while Harry, under a different set of glamours, paid his respects to his late wife, though he knew that she wasn't really there either.

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 **2143**

Harry Potter stood at the back of the crowd at his daughter's funeral. Previously, he had come back for both James and Al's funerals, as well as Annabelle's, Emmy's, and Sam's.

Before his "death," Harry had stealthily diverted resources from his family's ample account at Gringott's into various accounts, as well as real estate around the globe, while still leaving a sizable amount for his heirs. Now, Harry had been utilizing those resources while working and learning new skills.

Soon, he would be leaving permanently. He had thought about attending his grandchildren's funerals, but it had only gotten harder to remain.

Harry was shaken out of his grim reverie by a presence at his side.

"How did you know Aunt Lily?" asked Al's oldest daughter, Andrea.

Harry turned and faced his granddaughter. Fortunately, he had come prepared.

"Ma folks were friends with Sam, from way back, ma'am," Harry said, affecting a West Texas twang. "I'd met Sam and Lily win they came over to visit. I jist happened to be over here on business win I heard about Miss Lily passing on like that, so I thought I'd come pay my respects."

After a few more pleasantries were exchanged, Harry bid farewell to his granddaughter before he broke down and cried.

Soon, Harry Potter was at Heathrow Spaceport with a one-way ticket for Bradbury City, on the planet Mars.

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 **11 August, 2247**

Raymun and Aurelan Weasley looked at the newborn baby sleeping in Aurelan's arms, their daughter. Their twin sons, Doug and Gene fought to see their little sister.

Ray shushed his sons. "You'll wake little Ginny," he whispered.

"I thought she was gonna be named Barbara," whispered Doug.

"So did we," their mother said, "but when she was born, we knew that she was Ginevra Molly Weasley."

"Where'd you get that name?" asked Gene.

"Well," their father told them, "Do you remember the story of Harry Potter?"

The boys nodded yes.

"He was a hero," said Gene.

"Yes, he was," said their father. "Well, we named Ginny after Harry's wife, Ginevra Molly Weasley... Potter."

"Weasley?" the boys exclaimed. "She was a Weasley? We're related to Harry Potter?"

"Yes, we are," said their father with a smile. "Ginny Potter's brother, and Harry's best friend, was Ron Weasley. Ron was my many-greats grandfather."

This time, the boys' exhuberance woke little Ginny and she began to cry.

"Okay," said their father, while ushering them out of the room, "Let's let your mom get your sister back to sleep, shall we?"

As mother soothed daughter back to sleep, on the other side of the room sat two Beings, invisible to the mortal world.

"Here she is," said Death, "once more breathing the air, though not the air of her original home."

"No," said Fate, "the mortals have made their home here in what they call the Asteroid Belt. The air is synthesized, yet it still comes from what The One has made."

"I have observed the Champion," Death remarked. "Though he is lonely, he does not despair, for he knows that the time is nigh for their reunion."

"First, the Beloved must have her childhood. Then, they shall meet and she shall remember."

"And how shall she remember?" asked Death.

Fate smiled. "You shall have to be surprised, my sister."

The two Beings left for other realms. Ginny Weasley slept, unaware of anything but the comfort of her mother.

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 **o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

 _ **A/N:**_

 _The character of Emily "Emmy" Potter, née Wilder, was shamelessly borrowed from the_ _Backward with Purpose_ _trilogy by Deadwoodpecker._

 _Andrea Potter, Annabelle Potter (née Cooper), and Samuel "Sam" Anderson are original characters. In case you were interested, Sam is from Muleshoe, Texas. You may be seeing them again in other stories of mine._

 _I apologise for my attempt at phoneticization of the West Texas accent._

 _For the sake of my sanity as a writer, people will be using American English in the twenty-third century._

 _Aurelan Weasley's given name is borrowed from Aurelan Kirk, James T. Kirk's sister-in-law. I thought that worked for a 23rd Century name._


End file.
